The novel "Tombstone" was
written by Giles Tippette. It is based on the script written by Kevin Jarre for
the film of the same name.
The story takes place in the
south eastern corner of Arizona. It is a land made for the outlaws. People who
live there do not earn enough in the desert with their cattle. So they steal it
in Mexico. In this area a town grows - the town Tombstone. It is a
silver-mining city. There is no real law although there is a sheriff. The law
is an organisation of bandits called Cowboys which members wear a red sash. The
leader is Curly Bill Broncius. The men
kill, rape and steal and nobody can stop them. Wyatt Earp arrives in Tucson
where he meets his two brothers with their wives. Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp
- they have been sheriffs but now they want to earn money and live a happy
life. Therefore they want to go to Tombstone. There they meet sheriff Behan who
wants to help them in finding a house. Wyatt Earp obtains a job in the Oriental
Saloon. In Tombstone he also meets the player and killer Doc Holliday who is
his friend and who suffers from tuberculosis and Josephine Marcus an actress
who Wyatt likes from the first moment. Soon the Earps get to know the power of
the Cowboys. They terrorize the city and even the people are afraid of walking
in the streets. After the town sheriff Fred White is killed Wyatt is asked
again if he wants to become the new one. But he refuses. His brothers, Virgil
and Morgan think that they must do something so they become the new sheriffs.
After Ike, one of the Cowboys has been arrested the Cowboys swear to kill the
Earps. Now Wyatt agrees to help his brothers. One day some Cowboys come to the
O.K. Corral. The sheriffs want to arrest them but one of the Cowboys draws his
colt and a gun battle starts. Virgil and Morgan are wounded and some of the
Cowboys die. The Cowboys bury their death comrades the next day and in a stormy
night they take revenge. They wound the wife of the mayor, try to kill the
wives of the Earps, shoot at Virgil and kill Morgan. Virgil survives but looses
his arm. He and the women leave Tombstone. Only Wyatt stays there to take
revenge - he plans to kill every Cowboy. He is now a U.S. Marshal and with Doc
Holliday, Turkey Johnson, Jack Vermillion and Frank McMasters he hunts the
Cowboys killing one after the next. At a river Wyatt kills the leader of the
Cowboys Curly Bill. Now there are only a few of them left and their new leader
is Johnny Ringo. Holliday's tuberculosis becomes worse and so the group rides
to a farm. There they meet Josephine again. She tells them that their
stagecoach has been held up and that the drivers and one actor has been killed.
The Cowboys send a man to the farm for "negotiations". McMasters comes with
this man but he is burned and sent back to the farm with the message that Ringo
wants a duel with Wyatt Earp in the morning. But instead of Wyatt Doc Holliday
arrives there and kills Ringo. The last fight against the Cowboys has begun and
finally all of them are dead or have fled. Holliday comes into a sanatorium
where he dies. Wyatt Earp's wife Mattie dies because of her opium misuse. Wyatt
marries Josephine and lives with her 47 happy years. Wyatt Earp dies in 1929 as
a friend of many western filmstars.
The book and especially the film "Tombstone"
is really fascinating. It is no classic Western. It is a historical film
because the town Tombstone really exists and Wyatt Earp was a legend. It was
not a very important event the fight at the O.K. Corral but it is one thing
many people remember of the Wild West. In the film Wyatt Earp was played by
Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer played the ill Doc Holliday.
